That's what I've had to do @bertrand-mabel, especially with tulips in pots. I saw 5 squirrels in the back garden a day or so ago, creating mayhem and there are lots of holes with chewed white roots? all over the borders. I potted up the crocuses and small irises which are safely in the greenhouse. Once they start growing the squirrels don't seem so interested.
One of my biggest worries is that mice will get into my pots and eat all the bulbs. I tried to protect them as well as I could, but it seems rodents are made up of mainly water and can squeeze into the smallest of spaces!
New England, USA
Metacomet soil with hints of Woodbridge and Pillsbury
I often use netting on pots - tied in place with string. It can also look quite nice if you do it neatly. I like that better than chicken wire, which squirrels can often dislodge anyway. The squirrels also have plenty of habitat round here so it's less of a problem, and I've stopped feeding peanuts, so they don't come in the garden as much either. I don't find mice get in and eat them, but they have plenty of other food available @CrankyYankee, so maybe that's why.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Bulbs need water to grow. I usually water bulbs in pots when I plant them. It settles them in if nothing else. I then check and add a little water if needed.
This year I am only growing an amaryllis (present). It came in a cardboard box in early December. I threw away the plastic pot and set aside the compost. Then I soaked the bulb for 24 h. planted in John Innes in a clay pot. (Amaryllis needs some weight for stability.). Kept at coolish room temp, ca 15ºC. Now the flower is just showing colour. ca 50cm.
Mainland Europe gets much colder than the British Isles. I grew some daffodils (February Gold) in a trough on a "warm" balcony just east of Brussels. Frosts came, the bulbs froze and rotted.
Regarding mammals, we're all mainly water. Just that some are better at squeezing through gaps.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
No - they didn't touch it @Lizzie27. They did have a right go when I initially built the feeding cages a year or two before that. I didn't have enough mesh to do the tops, so I used it there, but the little sods started on it, so I just made a temporary wooden lid or something until I did the green roofs on them. Maybe they just found somewhere easier to get their kicks by then I'd say that not using peanuts has definitely helped though, but as I said before - we have a lot of other habitat around here for them, so perhaps they've just given up on my garden. That's the kiss of death isn't it? The place'll be hoaching with them tomorrow!
I found this pic - I'd bought the net for doing a new lawn in the back garden, to keep everything off it. I doubled it up on some pots too, which really helped, but didn't prevent the shoots coming through. Useful for small tulips, especially.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thanks @Fairygirl, I think I've got some of that netting somewhere if I can lay my hands on it. As you say, it looks very decorative with the string, which I've also got - somewhere!
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The squirrels also have plenty of habitat round here so it's less of a problem, and I've stopped feeding peanuts, so they don't come in the garden as much either.
I don't find mice get in and eat them, but they have plenty of other food available @CrankyYankee, so maybe that's why.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
This year I am only growing an amaryllis (present). It came in a cardboard box in early December. I threw away the plastic pot and set aside the compost. Then I soaked the bulb for 24 h. planted in John Innes in a clay pot. (Amaryllis needs some weight for stability.). Kept at coolish room temp, ca 15ºC. Now the flower is just showing colour. ca 50cm.
Mainland Europe gets much colder than the British Isles. I grew some daffodils (February Gold) in a trough on a "warm" balcony just east of Brussels. Frosts came, the bulbs froze and rotted.
Regarding mammals, we're all mainly water. Just that some are better at squeezing through gaps.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
I hadn't thought of netting so might give it a go.
Maybe they just found somewhere easier to get their kicks by then
I'd say that not using peanuts has definitely helped though, but as I said before - we have a lot of other habitat around here for them, so perhaps they've just given up on my garden.
That's the kiss of death isn't it? The place'll be hoaching with them tomorrow!
I found this pic - I'd bought the net for doing a new lawn in the back garden, to keep everything off it. I doubled it up on some pots too, which really helped, but didn't prevent the shoots coming through. Useful for small tulips, especially.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...